The present invention relates in general to supporting and more particularly concerns a novel plastic handle and method of manufacturing it characterized by a sharp reduction in weight and mold costs without sacrificing strength while increasing the ease of manufacture.
The present invention is especially useful as a handle for a cooler or other container. The prior art approach to making these handles involved injection molding a solid U-shaped handle or molding it straight and hot forming it into the U-shape. The mold for such a handle typically costs about $50,000, and each handle uses about 400 grams of plastic material.
It is an important object of this invention to provide an improved plastic supporting structure and method of manufacture.
It is another object of the invention to achieve the preceding object with a handle that uses significantly less material while providing adequate support.
It is another object of the invention to achieve one or more of the preceding objects with molds that are significantly less complex and expensive.
It is still another object of the invention to achieve one or more of the preceding objects using blow molding techniques.
It is still a further object of the invention to achieve one or more of the preceding objects by molding the structure flat in such a manner that after molding it may readily be formed into noncollinear segments.